Senior VFX Artist

About the Hiring TeamWelcome to Lightspeed LA, the first U.S.-based, AAA game development studio for Tencent Games. Lightspeed LA is focused on building open-world games that emphasize an ambitious living world, sophisticated player-driven gameplay, and mature, thoughtful storytelling. We are developing the first in a series of genre-defining titles.
Why join Lightspeed LA?
For us, it's not only about the exciting, new AAA open world game we're developing but also about team values and studio culture. We foster an open and transparent environment where everyone feels comfortable providing constructive feedback about all aspects of our games.
● We encourage the showing of work that's still in progress.
● We don't attack or question unfinished work, we celebrate its promise.
● We have a No Blame Culture where we blame the problem, not the person.
This is a safe place to fail, and we don't view failure as a negative, but as the natural result of pushing boundaries and trying new things. We create together. We face Challenges Together. We succeed together.

What the Role Entails

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with VFX Director and Lead on the visual style of all effects in the game, through verbal and written communication, concepts, or reference images/videos.
• Able to demonstrate strong communication skills within and across depts.
• Create optimized and performant visual effects for real-time rendering within a PBR environment using Unreal Engine.
• Create weather, atmospheric, and ambient environment effects using Niagara and other Unreal tools.
• Create effects required for gameplay like impact decals, explosions, muzzle flashes and other related weapons and breakable effects in using various systems in Unreal Engine.
• Create Post Process, Materials, Blueprints, etc. in Unreal Engine.
• Demonstrate a strong eye for lighting details, and the capability to use them in crafting top notch visual effects that support gameplay and cinematography.
• Understanding of best real-time practices, pipelines and workflows.
• Collaborate with Engineers and Tech Art to create and/or modify pipelines.
• Troubleshoot technical and workflow issues.

Who We Look For

• 5+ years of VFX development experience.
• Autonomous and have the ability to communicate to get task to finish line.
• Strong understanding of Unreal Engine’s tool and pipelines like Niagara, Materials, Post Process, and Blueprints.
• Strong working knowledge of particle driven effects.
• Strong knowledge of node-based shaders and their creation.
• Experience creating realistic simulations using Houdini and other simulation packages then making them into Unreal Assets.
• Strong knowledge of Photoshop and AfterEffects for texture creation.
• Keen artistic eye and exceptional attention to detail.
• Used to fast paced moving production and making adjustments along the way.
• The capability to view visual reference of an effect, deconstruct it and then re-create it in a real-time game engine is vital.
• Good understanding of and appreciation for milestones, schedules, deadlines, and efficient game development processes.

Nice to have:

• Understanding of CGFX and/or HLSL shader languages.
• Texturing, modeling, skinning, animation, or lighting experience is a plus.
• Substance Painter & Designer experience.
• Knowledge of MEL/Python/VEX. And Houdini.

Why Join Us?Perks and Benefits:
Just some of the benefits of working with us here at our newly built studio in Irvine, CA.
● Free daily lunch
● Beverages, fresh fruit, and snacks
● 401k with employer match
● Monthly Cell phone bill reimbursement
● Financial wellness sessions
● Flexible spending account
● Team building and company outings
● Parental leave for new parents
● Company paid health insurance
● Life and disability insurance
● Employee assistance program
● Wellness training
● Travel insurance
● Preventive care
If the above sounds like you, or if you'd like to know more about the role, we'd love to hear from you to see if we might be a good fit for each other! Contact us for more information about this exciting opportunity.

Location State(s)

California

The base pay range for this position in the state(s) above is $89,640.0 to $186,840.0 per year. Actual pay is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A sign on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units may be provided as part of the compensation package, as well as other medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the specific position offered.Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent

As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly believe that diverse voices fuel our innovation and allow us to better serve our users and the community. We foster an environment where every employee of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.